Universal Pictures announced Tuesday that it will release a new movie from “Despicable Me” producer Illumination Entertainment July 4 weekend in 2015. The studio would not disclose anything else about the movie, which will be Illumination’s sixth feature film since Chris Meledandri founded it in 2007.
However, we can tell you what it will and won't be. It will be an original, animated movie, a spokesman for Meledandri and Universal told TheWrap. That means it won't be the reboot of the Grinch that Illumination and Universal are cooking up.
In its ambiguous Monday announcement, Universal said the new Illumination movie will be released in 3D, and the studio’s new spin on the iconic Dr. Seuss character will also be a 3D feature. Still, "original" crosses off Grinch.
It also won't be a live-action film, Meledandri's spokesman said. Though Universal has said Illumination will, at some point, make a live-action movie, the only such project the production company has kicked around is a Dr. Seuss biopic.
Illumination has an exclusive financing and distribution deal with Universal, and thus far has made “Despicable Me,” “The Lorax” and “Hop.” The company has two more projects on deck before this untitled feature: the sequel to “Despicable Me,” due out July 3, and a spin-off of that franchise, “The Untitled Minions Project,” due out in 2014. This new movie won't be "Despicable Me" related, Meledandri's spokesman said.
So what will it be? Stay tuned.
